Uh oh, looks the crisis in manufacturing still isn’t a crisis

by Cameron Slater on September 13, 2014 at 11:30am

Labour and the opposition parties declared a crisis in manufacturing.

They held their own inquiry and the very same day that they stood and told the media that their findings were that NZ manufacturing was doomed, in crisis and needed their remedy statistics were released that showed that manufacturing was in fact doing the complete opposite.

Almost everything that Labour or other opposition parties have declared to be in crisis has turned around and improved.

The seasonally adjusted PMI for August was 56.5 (a PMI reading above 50.0 indicates that manufacturing is generally expanding; below 50.0 that it is declining).

This was 3.0 points higher than July, and means the sector has now been in expansion every month over the last two years.

BusinessNZ’s executive director for manufacturing Catherine Beard said that the boost in expansion was welcome after four months of more moderate growth.

“The rise in August was mainly due to a lift in both production and new orders, while two of the other three sub-indices also showed improvement. In fact, production was at its highest level since July 2013.

“The proportion of positive comments from respondents was at their highest level for a number of months (61.2%), which tended to center around steady rise in orders, seasonal activity, and positive results following promotional activity and specific projects being undertaken.

BNZ senior economist Doug Steel said “Today’s PMI points to more production ahead, and suggests it won’t be too long before we see the manufacturing sector bounce back from the Q2 softness.”

Three of the four regions were in expansion during August.

About the only thing Labour hasn’t declared a crisis is their current poll ratings.

After the election I think they will have to start thinking along those lines otherwise they are doomed.

– Interest.co.nz

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As much at home writing editorials as being the subject of them, Cam has won awards, including the Canon Media Award for his work on the Len Brown/Bevan Chuang story. When he’s not creating the news, he tends to be in it, with protagonists using the courts, media and social media to deliver financial as well as death threats.

They say that news is something that someone, somewhere, wants kept quiet. Cam Slater doesn’t do quiet and, as a result, he is a polarising, controversial but highly effective journalist who takes no prisoners.